


i'm blaming my stars, because of you

by Owlmelette



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Classic trope we all know and love, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Let's hope I actually finish this, Soulmate AU, Soulmate AU where the first sentence your seoulmate says to you is tattooed on your wrist, i love drama pls forgive me, i'll add more characters and pairings as the story goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-02-23 02:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlmelette/pseuds/Owlmelette
Summary: Piper has never believed in the whole soulmate system.





	1. catnips and ratatouilles

**Author's Note:**

> Henlo! This is my first multi-chaptered fic. Tbh it all stemmed from a “kid holding a kite, gray skies, and rice fields” prompt but I think this one strayed so far away from it. Instead, it’s a Soulmate AU where the first sentence your soulmate will say is tattooed on your wrist.
> 
> Enjoy?

Piper shuts the cage, careful to keep her hands out of reach from the feral feline's sharpened claws.

"The poor thing had got into a fight with one of the neighbor's cats," Sally murmurs beside her, eyeing the cage with motherly concern. Its wails were enough to send the woman out of Percy's old window and onto the fire exit, but the cat had still been wary of her presence. As soon as Piper came, the cat's hisses had mellowed into low growls and begrudgingly let the brunette put her in the cage that it is in now.

"It's a good thing it ended up outside your apartment. Others wouldn't take it so nicely." After bidding Percy's mother goodbye, Piper takes the cat to the shelter and signs him in as Catnip.

The cat had not stopped growling at her and its anxious state had made him jumpy. Hence, Catnip. It takes her a few hours to get him to stop pacing the cage by cooing at him and allowing him to get used to her scent. She will have to bring Frank over to take a look at his injuries.

"It doesn't seem to be used to closed spaces," Frank tries to reach for one of Catnip's hind legs to examine it but the cat swipes at him.

"Half-breed?" Piper inquires. It does make sense, though. Its rich fur, large build, and exquisite coat pattern reminds her of large wild cats.

"You mean hybrid," he fills up the form that he brought with him. "You're in charge of that, though. I'm just the vet. I'll need to do an x-ray, Pipes; just letting you know.”

-

Later in the day, she checks her messages to see that Jason had sent one hours ago, saying that he was thrilled to see her later. Thrilled wasn’t the word Piper would use, though, as she recalls the static air between them during the week that had passed.

It makes her scared, if she was going to be honest with herself.

“Nope,” she mutters to herself as she returns to her duties, pushing down the feeling of dread.

Date nights every Friday has become synonymous with trying to keep Jason interested in her life apart from the cat hair on her shirt despite having changed twice and not owning any actual felines in her apartment. Lately, it's been like that. It’s almost winter and it’s probably something couples went through from time to time.

Of course, dinner was going to be French due to Jason’s insistence that they expand their gourmet knowledge by trying out not-so-exotic cuisine. It would have been almost a year since they started this.

Jason’s already at the booth where they usually sit and scanning the menu.

“Board meeting today?” she starts, gesturing towards his dress shirt and suedes. He stands to greet her and presses a kiss to her forehead a second too long, and Piper counts that as the first red flag for the night.

“Yeah. This has been my get-up for the week. New potential clients and all,” he dismisses the topic with a noncommittal wave, and goes back to the menu. “You wanna get a ratatouille tonight?”

“I was actually thinking of getting the gratin,” she answers thoughtfully but agrees to his suggestion. Once they have placed their order, Piper notices Jason’s tense shoulders, and is once again reminded that they have something serious to talk about. She smiles at him, either way, because it’s the effect he has on her, and tells him about her day but his eyes become unfocused and glazed over before her story is over.

“Were you listening to what I was saying?” the brunette meant it out of concern, but it comes out whiny and annoyed.

Jason’s eyes flit to her and he straightens. “Yeah. Tristan has a new project?”

“It’s not an action film anymore. I’m proud of him, though, for trying a different kind of genre,” Piper toys with one of her braids, hoping that she can keep the conversation going.

But it soon becomes apparent that her boyfriend had something else in mind. That’s the second flag. “Are you alright?” she tries.

He only hums as a reply with a troubled smile on his lips. This time, she lets her worry show. “You wanna talk about it?” Piper reaches for his hand across the table, but he pulls back. Third flag.

“Jason, you need to start talking,” her voice is stern. “You’re not okay. You’re distracted -- _disturbed_ even, and I want to help you.”

There’s a grimace on his face like he wants to spit the words out but he’s trying not to. “Not now, please?” He looks at her with melancholic eyes and Piper wills herself to calm down.

The rest of the wait was spent in silence and the ominous feeling in Piper’s chest multiplies until she couldn’t look at Jason properly. There are several assumptions jumping around in her head and all of them are plausible. When the food arrives, Jason launches into a funny story that involved Frank and their microwave. The normalcy of his stance, his laughter, and his actions makes her stomach twist, but she cooperates, only to get the whole thing over with.

Piper’s barely touched her meal by the end of dinner. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

His stormy blue eyes are uneasy, but she waits for him to compose himself. “I met her.”

She would have been an idiot if she did not see that coming.

-

"You look odd," Percy eyes her in the middle of the game.

"You kept saying that ever since you got here," Piper deadpans.

"Aside from the fact that you are _really_ bad at PS4, you are extra odd today."

Annabeth returns with the bowl refilled with newly popped corn. "That's because Jason isn't here."

"We broke up, that's why," her faked nonchalance is revealed when her voice cracks at the end.

" _Ohmygod_ ," Annabeth sets the bowl down on the carpeted floor before taking Piper into her arms. "I'm so sorry."

Percy awkwardly places his hand on her head and gives her a gentle pat. "Since when?"

"Yesterday." Her choked sobs rip through her and she feels embarrassed because the couple she loves third wheeling to is trying to comfort her broken heart. "He met her," she continues as the blonde settles beside her so that Piper is seated in between her and Percy. "Or him. I don't know. His soulmate could be a brick for all I care."

It takes a long time before she calms down and has recounted all the dates her and Jason have been to. "Then this week we ate at my favorite restaurant and he ordered my favorite dish. Didn't think it'd be our last one," she finishes.

The couple solemnly nod as Annabeth passes her a tissue box. "Cry it out, Pipes. It'll get better. I promise." She says it with finality, like her words can change reality. And reality is she's been with Jason for two years and she doesn't think she'll be able to accept the fact that he was able to throw it away so easily. Reality is the world continuously turning and having to deal with the pain without noticing anything else.

\--

"I'm sorry," Jason's eyes start to glisten with unshed tears.

Piper's vision starts to blur. "I don't think you have the right to say that in this situation."

"It's not like I wanted this," he mutters.

Lies. The final leaf of autumn has fallen, and winter has officially begun.

 


	2. friends and winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Before and After of Piper's life.

"This is going to be great, Pipes," Percy glances at her as they make their way to the garage.

It's been an ongoing conversation already and she's beginning to regret tagging along with her favorite couple to a party of sorts somewhere on Venice Beach. She's not interested in going out on a beautiful Friday night just to give in to Percy and Annabeth's qualms about her lackluster life, but Hazel and Frank were going so they had to go, too (and how Hazel ever convinces Frank to go to these things, she'll never know).

"At least we could spend one whole night judging people at the club," Piper murmurs. She had been hoping that their plans would change at last minute but as soon as she sees Annabeth in her favorite grey dress, she knew that there was no going back.

"I don't understand how I got pulled into all of this," she whines again.

"We made a promise, okay?" Percy says as he buckles Annabeth's seatbelt on. "And we're all here pretty and punctual so we might as well go." He looks at the brunette sulking in her seat, then sighs, and starts the engine and drives for the coastline.

"Annabeth!" they all hear a squeal as they alight from Percy's car. Levesque is running towards them with Frank in tow looking like he'd just woken up. Hazel hugs each of them tightly and gushes about how long she hasn't seen any of them.

"We just saw each other last week, though?" Frank rubs his eyes sleepily. It's almost inevitable to not see her friends during the week; LA is a beautiful place none of them ever get tired of. As they make their way to the rooftop club, Frank sleepily tells them of his grueling journey to becoming a full-fledged veterinarian as he always does and Hazel gives him an encouraging pat. The two have been dancing around each other for the majority of high school and had only started dating when they all moved to California. Nowadays, they're as good as married and Annabeth and Piper have an ongoing bet on when Frank will propose.

"Ok so," Hazel starts after they have ordered their cocktails and looks Piper in the eyes. "We lied."

"What?" Piper's confused but the rest of the group smiles at her and she realizes that her best friends are not making her the fifth wheel of the night.

It _has_  been an ongoing conversation already but Piper still feels a bit queasy when Annabeth talks about an A-rate dreamboat prince charming who happens to be Frank's new roommate and is also, miraculously, single. "I thought you all believed in the system?" the brunette interrupts Annabeth's little sales pitch. It's one of the first things she tells anyone she meets, and it has made her an enemy to some so she's a little shocked that her friends are setting her up for a blind date.

"Personally, I do. But I want to see you happily dating someone who understands your beliefs. He might share your views, too, you know." And so, Piper is once again reminded that her friends are like parents to her, more than anything, when it comes to these kinds of things.

"And he's a nice guy," Frank chimes in.

"Handsome, too" Percy shrugs.

It doesn't alleviate her fears, but Piper appreciate her friends' concern for her love life and decides to give in. They _are_  there pretty and punctual, anyway.

"I'm going to say it now before we get cozy with each other," Piper starts when it's well into the night and they're gazing out onto the city lights near the coast of Venice Beach, a glass of red wine in their hands and lukewarm dishes on their table. Jason looks at her and places his glass on the table when he sees that she's serious. The date had gone smoothly, with her friends at the next table trying to act like they weren't listening in on their conversation. Piper had to agree with the A-rate dreamboat prince charming because Jason won her over instantly. They're both enjoying each other's company and Piper is still interested. Surprisingly enough, she wants to see him again and Jason seems to want the same.

"I don't believe in soulmates. Never have and probably never will. We're obviously not," she raises her wrist where her tattooed sentence is, hidden under a layer of ink and cloth. "I think the whole system is flawed into making us believe in destiny or other cheesy reason people come up with to live their lives in complete and utter trust in the fact that they will meet their ‘special someone’ someday. I think people can choose to be together whether they are soulmates or not. I want a serious relationship, Jason. So I think if you don't feel the same way I do, then we don't have to see each other anymore." It feels relieving when she finishes, and Piper sets her shoulders squarely and resumes eating her cold mashed potatoes and waits for his reply. At her peripheral vision, she notices her friends at the next table squirming listlessly in their seats.

After a while, Jason smiles and takes her hand from across the table. The gesture surprises her but she doesn't fail to catch the conflicted look on his electric blue eyes. "I want to see you again, Piper."

-

That look was a warning sign Piper completely ignored in favor of the warmth of his hand on hers. Right from the start, Jason’s warmth never reached his eyes and decided with some screwed up logic that he was going to indulge her the feeling of being in a serious relationship before getting up and leaving when he first meets his soulmate like everything they had shared in the past two years meant nothing.

Piper belatedly imagines him laughing with his soulmate, his eyes crinkling and the warmth in his voice matching the adoration in his gaze, and she couldn’t help but cry because her pitiful ass saw this whole thing coming and she was stupid enough to believe he wanted anything serious.

Catnip hears her hiccupping sobs despite cupping her mouth with both of her hands and the cat stops pacing his small enclosure. On a better day, he would look comical with the several braces on his body and multiple strips of bandages embracing his rich coat. But Jason took a lot of things with him, including the better days, and Piper has no one to blame but herself.

-

“Pipes, do you wanna go shopping next weekend?” Hazel smiles warmly at her, the gold in her eyes twinkling.

Piper sighs. It’s been two weeks since the breakup and her friends were trying extra hard to get her out. She looks up from her takeout, eyeing Hazel’s hopeful smile. Even Frank went out of his way to send her a meme post he thought she’d find hilarious.

“I’m not really feeling up to it,” she has repeated that statement over and over for the past few days. _Do you wanna go to the beach? Hey, let’s get a smoothie. My treat. The movie that you thought was “psychologically thrilling” or whatever is out already. You wanna see it later?_

Her friend shoots her a comforting smile. “Whenever you’re ready then.”

The brunette doesn’t answer and watches Hazel join Percy in the living room as he watches reruns. At least, her friends were treating her like she was covered in bubble wrap and she wasn’t being forced to answer any of their questions nor was she forced to go out with them on the weekends. Instead, they all come over to her apartment and do nothing with her all day. Across her, Frank is mumbling out terminologies and names as he scribbles them down at the margins of his textbook; Annabeth is doing the laundry and occasionally checking in if they were hungry enough for another round of pizza.

If she was going to be completely honest, she’s wanted to blame them a couple of times. She wanted to blame Frank for having Jason as a temporary roommate in his dormitory. She wanted to be mad at Annabeth for convincing her to take a chance on Jason. She wanted to throw Percy’s PS4 out a window because he deserved it for making her go out that one Saturday night. She badly wanted to play the blame game. Heck, she wanted to blame her parents even. She wanted to blame her lousy soulmate. In the end, Piper doesn’t finish her takeout and goes to her room.

-

“Okay. Enough is enough,” Annabeth announces as she pulls off the covers off Piper’s sleeping form. The sudden cold wakes her up and the brunette sits up in alarm. “We’re going ice skating,” the blonde announces. “So get your coat and mittens.”

Piper stares at the blonde’s retreating form and knows she has ten minutes tops to get ready. “Why do you have a spare key to my house?” she calls after her. She glances at her calendar and it’s almost despicable how her brain automatically knows that it’s been almost two months since they broke up. The weather has gotten considerably warmer but not enough for people to drop the festive season.

“Because you’re a spoiled brat that doesn’t do her own dishes. Go dress up!”

“I only do those on the weekends!” When Annabeth doesn’t reply, she mutters, “No point in arguing, then.”

“Why are we doing this?” she finally says when she and Annabeth get off the bus and starts to put on her coat.

“Because you haven’t used the skates I gave you, dummy.’ Piper supposes that the _I don’t feel up to it_ reason never works with the one and only Annabeth. Once they had tied their skates on, they walk hand in hand to the frozen skating rink and despite Annabeth’s athleticism, manages to slip twice on their way.

“This is such a horrifying way to die,” Piper calls to her after she has fallen for the third time. Her coat is damp from the melted ice and her teeth are chattering.

“Agreed. Not an ideal way to spend a Sunday morning.”

After thirty more minutes of hell and wobbly ankles, Piper takes a seat on one of the benches and her friend follows shortly. Palm trees circle the artificial skating rink, making the rink look ironic in the sun-kissed land of California. Despite this, people are skating and enjoying the last touches of the winter season.

“The ice is uneven,” she mutters.

“Or you finally suck at something,” Piper retorts.

“Not as much as you, though, so that’s comforting.”

“Show off”

“Try hard”

When they have fully rested, they get brunch at their favorite diner. “Thanks, Annabeth,” Piper smiles.

She’s still mad – at herself, at Jason, and at the stupid system everyone trusts in so much. But she’s tired of spending days crying to herself and using her credit card to buy extra boxes of tissue paper and ice cream pints. She’s also tired of her friends ignoring the elephant in the room, afraid that she might break into a thousand Piper pieces in front of all of them. It’s almost regrettable that she’s spent Christmas and New Year crying her eyes out every time the clock struck midnight but it’s helped her reach the point of draught. Her eyes are dry – and yes, she’s still lonely – but she’s emptied herself to finally take one step towards forgiving herself. _Maybe._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henlo, loves. I hope you all enjoyed this chappy. Please do tell me if I made any mistakes with the grammar and the continuity and all that. I AM TERRIBLE AT GEOGRAPHY and I don't live in Cali so if Venice Beach is far from Pershing Square and all those in-betweens then I am really s o r r y.
> 
> She shall meet Mr. Hot Stuff next chapter, don't worry.


	3. long, long days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go from 90-100 pretty quickly, I'd say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back and I am Hereeee after two weeks. You guys, I love cats so much.

From a certain angle, Piper can see the dust motes dance lazily underneath the sun's focused glare, its light coursing from her windows. The pasta is still boiling in the pot, and the brunette is staring at nothing in particular. Her fingers deftly twist her locks into small braids and then drags her fingers through them once she’s done. The great Tristan McLean is coming over for a Sunday brunch and it's the first time they're meeting after New Year's celebration. His schedule wasn't as packed as it usually was, but it took him some time to drive over her area to spend the day with her.

It’s a chilly morning and Piper’s still sporting a few bruises from last week’s skating escapade. Her heart’s still sporting a few bruises, as well, but if time was an effective medicine, then she’d be okay when the day comes. It’s almost comical that she had become an ironic representation of her father’s own relationship. She snorts at the thought and in perfect timing, her doorbell chimes.

When she opens the door for him, the dim hallway makes her father look younger than he really is. If she looks closely, she bears a distinct resemblance with him, and she wonders if his eyes truly match her own.

"Hi, dad," she takes his coat and hangs it on the rack and tells him that brunch is almost ready. She hurries to the kitchen and takes the pasta out and stirs it briefly in a pan of olive oil and mushrooms. Piper hears her father in the living room, whistling a tune she doesn't recognize. Once she was satisfied with the seasoning, she carries it into the room and pours its contents onto the glass dish on the already-set dining table. Then, brunch commences.

"How's work?" Tristan asks while he's twirling the pasta, later on. He's trying to bandwagon in on her vegetarian diet but only when he feels like it. Piper’s been adamant through her messages about his unhealthy schedule, but the man likes to laugh his exhaustion off, in exchange for doing what he loves.

"All my cases are challenging but I think it's coming together quite nicely." It's a general answer that makes her briefly think about the cats in the shelter and their differing responses to their standard protocol and treatment process. She's been thinking long and hard about actually taking one of them home with her but affection outside of work has not been her forte. After a few beats, Tristan begins to tell her about the ins and outs of his filming and how the weather was in their favor on most days. As the season progressed into the cold winter, the shooting would naturally be more challenging.

Piper nods as if it's all new to her, as if her father's life as a celebrated Hollywood star was a foreign idea, and makes a few side comments to encourage his upbeat monologue. There's a light in her father's eyes and it fills her up with different emotions. He's never talked about her in the way that he talks about his craft but she's always supportive. She figured it was the best way to steal some time from him, spending hours listening to her father talk about something he’s passionate about.

There was a time he wanted her to join him under the limelight - and he still does - but she's always declining. She's not like _them_.

"Have you seen your mom?" Speak of the devil. Tristan takes a breather from his superstar stories by asking her a risky question, knowing full well how Piper would react. Still, he asks her in the tone of a well-meaning father - probably the only time he'd bother listening to her response.

Piper doesn't want to start her weekend like this, but she answers: "Not yet."

"You haven't told her about what happened with Jason? She loved him." Her father takes another serving of pasta and she remembers that they were supposed to be eating. If she was going to be honest, her mother had said that she looked forward to seeing their horrendous fallout. She's never bothered to see her mother since that day. "She's... busy." It's curt and she silently hopes that her father would go back to talking about red carpet ceremonies and blinding paparazzi because she’s not in the mood to talk about her.

"Have you tried giving her a call?"

_I wouldn't want to do that._  "Not really." The most she could do was send her a Christmas card. And /that/ had already been a struggle.

Piper looks up from her bowl (it's her favorite; it's got teddy bears printed on the edge of the ceramic, one of Frank's better Christmas gifts for her) when her dad heaves a sigh. The sad eyes are back, and the great Tristan McLean looks older as he rests his chin on intertwined fingers and studies her as if he's remembered why they do not talk about Fiona Hart. There are crow's feet around his eyes and the laugh lines are more prominent as a stern expression takes over his features. "I'm sure your mother would appreciate it if you gave her a call."

"Dad," Piper's hand twitches as she makes an effort to keep her voice level. "She left us. Don't you think she should be the one making amends and coming over?"

It almost breaks her heart when her father rolls up his right sleeve (an act that he's done a million times before), and shows her the tattoo on his wrist. "She's never left us."

-

"I take it that brunch didn't go well," Percy draws out each word carefully as he inspects his friend's face. Piper is standing at his doorway and, though they had not planned anything today, she had been hoping Annabeth would be there. When Percy tells her that Wise Girl is unfortunately absent in the flesh ("but ever present in our hearts, thank you very much"), she decides to spend time with Annabeth's other half in the meantime. "Jackson, let's go bowling," she suddenly declares.

The bowling alley is a few blocks from his apartment and they had both agreed to walk. It took her a long time to compose herself after her dad had left with a somber stature, and even longer to clean up. The sun is now setting and comes in bright flashes in between tall buildings and their shadows blink in and out of existence as they trudge along. She had forgotten that Los Angeles was still cold during the beginning of the year and had left her apartment fuming without her coat. Piper greets the sky with a long sigh, almost oblivious to the cold but still grateful for the waning warmth of the sun. Percy keeps glancing at her from time to time, but he doesn't say anything.

When they both actually take down some pins, the tension eases from her shoulders and her friend takes it as a cue to start cracking some jokes.

In the end, Percy wins their mini bowling competition because as much as his brain is made out of seaweed, his muscles are taut and taken care of. Piper's slender form is just as good as a boiled broccoli, she doesn't know why she wanted to go bowling in the first place.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jackson says through a mouthful of fries. They're in a nearby restaurant and Piper supposes that the four-cheese pizza in her hands could count as dinner. They both ordered milkshakes as some ode to their college ritual of late nights at diners and are currently lounging in one of the booths. The bowling match had tired them out so they’re basking in the warmth of the diner’s heating system (while drinking milkshakes, yes, and they don’t care what that waiter’s opinion about their beverage choice was).

"Let's just call it the drama of the week and hope nothing else emotionally draining happens until next Sunday," it's more of a desperate plea, if anything, and they both know it. Percy and Annabeth weren't new to this side of Piper, and have learned to give her some space when it came to her father. It's not like they didn't know what it was like to have _daddy issues_. Luckily enough, Sally was a mother to them all.

Her friend nods gravely and takes his milkshake glass and raises it in the air. "To our continuous friendship and good health."

"Oh, I second that," Piper raises hers in answer.

-

As Piper is roused from her sleep at four in the morning, she quickly realizes that the drama is just starting. Her phone is ringing to the tune of Britney's Toxic, a ringtone that her manager has begged of all of them to use for her calls. She's half dreaming when she reaches out her arm to grab at her device from the bedside table, mouthing the lyrics to herself.

"Hello?" The sleepy brunette hums the greeting.

"McLean, darling, we have another emergency case for you. Someone's called in the office and you're the first good soul that has answered my calls." Drew's voice is silky, but it's the mischief in the way she drawls darling that Piper jolts up in bed and quickly makes her way to the dresser, where her uniform is hanging, and gets ready while the officer-in-charge is filling her in the details.

_Darling_  is not and will never be endearing when it comes from Drew. Despite being their officer-in-charge, the diva of sorts has taken a liking over making Piper’s job a living hell by making her go out on all these early morning rescue trips. Although the rescuing part was never the problem (she loves her job), Drew could _easily_  ask other volunteers living nearer those areas.

When the call ends, she has all the details she needs. Downtown Los Angeles. Electrical problems. Fire. A calico. _Oh, and, take Nico with you, if you please?_  Di Angelo wasn’t her favorite person in the world, but she loves teasing the hell out of him.

After picking him up (he jumped when she stopped the pick-up at his line of sight; an airhead, really), she drives onto the darker part of Los Angeles, the kind of place where she wouldn’t go by choice. In the said location, a small firetruck just finishes putting out a small fire from someone’s lawn. Piper doesn’t know what to make out of the burnt scraps of metal but Nico mumbles a small “That’s normal in this side of town” to answer her.

One of the old generators was said to have exploded as it was trying to keep the house’s power going. And the darkened metal reeking of burnt oil on the lawn is what is left of it. The old man who had been living in the small bungalow was recovering in an ambulance, the fumes rendering him unconscious.

“Where’s the cat?” Nico paces back and forth looking for signs of the old man’s feline.

“Hi, we’re from Los Angeles Animal Services,” she holds up her ID to a firefighter standing nearby. “We got a call about a cat caught in the fire?”

The firefighter’s eyes are bloodshot and exhausted but he directs them to the couple who lived next to old man. “Here you go, dear.” The man hands her a crate. The first thing that hits them is the smell. Nico scrunches his nose and inspects the still creature inside.

“That looks bad,” the tone is level but he thumbs the cat’s forehead as a means of reassurance. When it’s Piper’s turn to look at it, she realizes Nico has been putting it rather lightly.

“The cat had been out of the house when the explosion happened,” the woman explains to them, tears at the corners of her eyes. “Mister Manolo was trying to save her but…”

But he didn’t make it in time.

-

Piper hasn’t thought of a name for the cat, mostly because she probably already had a name. But aside from that, naming the calico would make the whole procedure more painful to her. The cat’s side had been badly burnt and a few shrapnel were embedded in its skin. Frank had forbidden her to enter the room in case she’d turn into a puddle of tears and snot and she was willing to work with that arrangement.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she whines at Oreo, the shelter’s oldest cat. He was staring up at her curiously when she stopped scratching his chin.

“Another cat came in,” Piper starts to explain while she lifts the feather toy to resume her play with Molly, a red tabby. “She looks like she’s in a lot pain, Oreo.” The said cat continues nuzzling his head onto her side, an act that she has learned to interpret as a request for cuddles. The brunette concedes by petting him with her right hand.

“I can’t bear to watch it.”

“It’ll be alright,” Nico assures her from the other side of the cat pen, his arms cradling the newly-born kittens, Peanut and Jack. “Frank’s crazy good at being a doctor.”

“You mean, _Will_  is.” Piper laughs when the boy suddenly blushes.

“How do you know him?!” He almost shouts.

“Isn’t he the med student who came to visit you the other day?”

The sleep-deprived kid turned into a blubbering cutie and has resorted to mumbling to himself, his teeth worrying his bottom lip as he tries to hold back a smile. “But, thanks, Nico.” The sudden optimism is unlike him but she appreciates it, even if he was doing it for her sake.

Late into the morning, Mister Manolo contacts the shelter and schedules a visit. Piper was standing at the information booth five minutes early, expecting the old man to be on his own. When she sees him enter, he’s arguing with a man. Their conversation was sharp and hushed, but anyone could tell that they weren’t agreeing on something.

McLean is fidgeting awkwardly when the pair stop in front of her. The younger man is glaring fiercely at Mister Manolo, and the old man replies with a firm gaze. “Whatever… I don’t care,” Mister Manolo’s son (they share a resemblance and Piper’s wildest guess is that they’re related, somehow) turns his gaze towards her and says: “I need to see her right now, please.”

Piper never thought she would hear that sentence ever spoken to her.

Underneath her cardigan sleeve, she can feel her tattoo in pin pricks, burning her skin. _I need to see her right now, please._ “Oh” is all she says and runs into the volunteer’s locker room and bolts the door behind her. There’s a string of colorful words running through her head.

She’s met _him_.

This was not the week she was hoping for.


End file.
